


Faerie Forest

by astraplain



Series: Faerie Lore [2]
Category: Gorgeous Carat
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9321098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraplain/pseuds/astraplain
Summary: In a forest of monsters, Florian finds a faerie





	

"Jacques told me it's called the forest of monsters!" Florian could barely contain his excitement, hopping from foot to foot as he told his mother all about his afternoon with his cousin. When she couldn't even manage a smile for him, Florian calmed and put his hands on hers, his expression turning solemn. "They aren't real monsters, just statues," he assured her, eyes wide with worry.

"That's good to know," Helene assured him, her voice hoarse from fighting back tears. She'd accepted the Chabot's invitation to stay at this remote estate, needing to get away from Paris and the memories of her recently deceased husband, but the grief had come with her and she was drowning.

'Maman?" Florian's voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper, and his bright eyes were blurred with tears. Another rock settled on Helene's chest as she drew Florian into her arms and held on tight. Her gentle, kind-hearted child, was crying for her, and she couldn't even say his name. After a long minute she released him and stepped back, pretending not to see the flashes of hurt and fear on her son's face, before he schooled his expression into a polite smile.

"I will let you rest," he said quietly before stepping backwards, watching her intently until she turned towards the window. She didn't look back, even when the door closed with a soft click.  
++++++

"Eleonora's too little to play hide and seek," Charlotte sniffed, turning away from the youngest child. Eleonora stuck her tongue out at Charlotte's back before insisting that she didn't want to play anyway.

"It's Florian's birthday tomorrow," Jacques reminded Charlotte. He was in charge because he was the oldest - nearly eleven - and because he'd recently inherited the estate when his older brother disappeared. Jacques' mother was running everything for now, but Jacques took his responsibilities seriously, even if it did include playing mediator among his young cousins.

"Fine," Charlotte conceded with absolutely no grace. "What do you want to do, Florian?"

"I want to see all the monsters." It was all he'd talked about since his arrival earlier in the week, but so far he'd only seen the two little statues at the entrance to the Forest of Monsters.

"Monsters!" Eleonora cheered, bouncing and clapping her hands. She was a tiny four-year-old, with masses of gold hair that nearly swallowed her when it wasn't pinned back. She was the actual heir of the Chabot estate, but with her mother dead and her father missing, it had gone to the next oldest male relative. Fortunately, she was too young to care about such things, but it made Jacques extra protective of her.

"Are you sure you want to see them?" he asked her gently, leaning down to her level. She made a face at him and reached out to take Florian's hand as her only answer. Jacques laughed and stepped back, knowing when he was outnumbered. Eleonora had always been an odd child, with a disturbing habit of shedding her clothes and running around naked. Fortunately she seemed to be better about staying dressed recently.

"If we're going to see monsters, we could at least have a picnic," Charlotte suggested, not quite able to keep the excitement out of her voice. She loved exploring the forest as much as the others, but at nine-and-a-half, she was getting too old to admit such things. "You'll go with us, won't you Violet?" She turned wide eyes on her governess who gave her a long-suffering sigh before agreeing.

+++++

"We're not going far," Florian told his mother, holding her hand and wishing she'd at least look at him. She kept her face turned away and remained silent even when Florian lifted her hand a brushed a kiss across the back before letting go. "I'll be back soon, Maman."

Helene didn't move.  
++++++

"Wow!" Florian gasped, jumping back from the grotesque statue before leaning close to examine it with a giggle. Off to his left he could hear Charlotte and Jacques talking, and somewhere ahead Eleonora was singing. He strolled in her direction, taking his time to study the shadows for more monsters. So far they had all been small but when he followed a curve of rock he came face to face with a giant... face.

The statue was a huge oval stone, perched on one narrow end like an egg, with huge eyes and a wide mouth that led into a shallow cave. He stepped over the teeth into the darkness and shivered a little in the sudden chill.

"Hello," he called, wondering if there would be an echo. He nearly screamed when a soft voice answered him. "Eleonora? He asked, squinting into the gloom at the back of the "mouth" where there was an indistinct white shape. It moved closer and Florian realized it was Eleonora, and she was nude.

"Want to know a secret?" she asked, taking his hand and leaning in close. "I'm a faerie. I switched places with the real Eleonora when she was a baby."

"A faerie?" A thrill of hope made Florian clutch at her hand. "Can you take me to your realm? Me and mother? Can you...?"

"I can't bring back your father, Florian. Faeries don't have that kind of power. But I can take you there, to a world even more wonderful than anything you've ever imagined. But only someone who truly wants to leave this world can go. Are you sure your mother wants that?"

"She does. She must. You've seen her, Eleonora."

"I have. But humans are strange creatures, Florian. Some of them become friends with their grief. The real Eleonora's father did, and it drove him mad."

"I don't want Mother to go mad," Florian said in a tiny voice. "She's so different. It feels like she's farther away every time I see her."

"Then leave her before she leaves you. Perhaps if you go, she'll come to her senses."

"I don't want to hurt her."

"So come with me now, just for a few minutes, so you can tell her what Faerie is like."

"Could we do that? Now? But only for a few minutes, so we don't worry the others."

"One quick visit. Come on, there's a faerie ring over here." Eleonora took Florian's hand and dragged him out of the monster's mouth towards a small clearing where wild flowers grew in a perfect circle. They stepped into it, mindful not to damage any flowers and Eleonora began to sing very softly.  
+++++

"It was strange because we had to take our clothes off to get there. But it was pretty and there was a deer, no taller than I am and he came right up to me!" Florian was so excited he kept tripping over his words, trying to tell his mother everything he'd seen and heard. At least she was looking at him now, but there were lines of exhaustion on her face and her eyes were distant.

"Stop!" she snapped after Florian had rambled for five minutes without a pause. "Just stop. I won't hear any more of your foolishness, Florian. You'll be seven tomorrow and as the Rochefort heir you are expected to behave like a sensible young man. I've indulged you long enough and this is the result. Now bring me every one of those ridiculous fairy tale books you brought with you."

Florian stared at her open-mouthed for a moment, then went to do as he had been told. Sometimes he pushed his limits, but he rarely disobeyed his mother. He returned to her room with an armload of his most treasured books, hugging them tight to his chest.

"Into the fire with them," she commanded, looming over him, arms crossed, her expression unyielding as Florian started to cry. "Now!" she shouted when the boy remained unmoving, clutching the books. She took a measured step forward and he flung the precious books into the flames with an inarticulate cry of grief.

She put a hand on his shoulder and held him in place, but she couldn't make him actually watch the books burn. He closed his eyes and thought of the deer, and the cool stream where he and Eleonora drank and splashed each other. He thought of the music they'd heard, dancing around them on a soft breeze. When he opened his eyes again they were too full of tears to see the last of his books turn to ash.

If he were a different child, he would have shouted his anger and pain at his only remaining parent, but Florian had never reacted that way. He felt other people's pain as if it were his own, and so he remained silent and subdued as she told him how this had been done for his benefit, and when she dismissed him, he kissed her cheek and walked away with his eyes still full of tears and a heavy weight on his heart.  
+++++

On the morning of his seventh birthday, Helene Rochefort kissed her son absently and sent him off to play, refusing his request to join him and the other children in the forest. She turned away from his pleading eyes and didn't watch him leave the house.

At noon, she clutched her skirts and ran, breathless and terrified through that same forest to a place where a giant egg-shaped monster stood guard over at a perfect ring of flowers. Just outside the ring, neatly folded, were the clothes Florian had been wearing.

Off to the side Jacques and Charlotte watched silently, clutching at each other while Eleonora made daisy chains and sang nonsense, a bright smile on her face and something dark and triumphant in her eyes.

::end::


End file.
